Embrapa Forestry (Paraná state) has just launched the Sistema Erva 20, a set of practices in herb crops that aim to increase the efficiency and sustainability of the cultivation of yerba mate. Its adoption is able to increase productivity and quality of the crops through the improvement in day-to-day production practices, such as planting, pruning, fertilization, weed control, herb crop renewal, among others. In this first moment, the system is available in manual format and can be accessed for free on Embrapa’s website. Improvement in quality The entrepreneur and rural producer Marcio Pizzatto, from General Carneiro (Paraná state), interested in planting yerba mate in an area where there was pine growing, adopted the technologies of Erva 20 in the implantation of the herb crop and his land also served for validation of technologies that make up the system. "We decided to adopt Erva 20 from the beginning because the recommendations were easy to apply and because of the entire Embrapa study that supports the practices. It is already possible to visually notice the benefits: they are homogenous herbs, with development far above the average of a normal crop. The result is very significant since early cultivation stages" says Pizzatto. Data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) show that the average productivity of a commercial herd in 2015 was 8 tons per hectare per harvest. With the adoption of efficient management practices and adjustments in herd management indicated by Erva 20, productivity can reach 20 t/ha per crop, depending on the herd's production potential, and even exceed this amount in exceptional situations. The system does not concern only about productivity, but also about the quality of yerba mate, which is a potential raw material for new products and also for insertion in the international market. "The cultivation of yerba mate in Brazil has relatively low technology adoption when compared to other crops," says Joel Penteado Júnior, an analyst at Embrapa Forestry and one of the responsible for the development of Erva 20. "Our work was to gather results of studies, validate others effectively, and consolidate information for the rural producer," he says. That system can be adopted at any stage "It is worth mentioning that it is not necessary to start a herbal crop from scratch to implant the Erva 20", says Ives Goulart, an analyst at Embrapa Forestry and the responsible for the project "Availability and insertion of technologies of the Sistema Erva 20". "The producer can apply the recommendations at any stage of the crop." Pizzatto attests to the effectiveness of the system: "These are techniques and methodologies to be used from the beginning to the end. If you follow all the technical indications, you will surely succeed." Best practices that make a difference With pictures and illustrative diagrams, the manual provides information on all phases of a productive yerba mate system: • seedling quality; • commercial cultivars; • implementation; • herb crop fertilization; • weed control; • soil cover; • pruning systems; • herb crop renewal via cutting and lowering; • planted plantain cultivation systems; • diseases; • pests; • schedule of management practices. Ives Goulart explains that productivity is the result of the production system as a whole, in which each management practice has its relative importance, so that if any of them is neglected, the productive potential is not reached. "Thus, the adoption of technologies in isolation is not enough to achieve greater productivity," says the analyst. Therefore, the most efficient practices were systematized in Erva 20, available in a manual format, which will be used in the training of rural extension agents and will also be available to rural producers. "The intention is to broaden the scope of information," says Goulart, adding that the organization of the system began 5 years ago, from the fact that the problems of the yerba mate production chain were the same as those reported 20 years ago. "That is, there already were many answers, but they were not available to producers. Others, needed to be updated and tested in the field, "recalls the analyst. The result is a set of information derived from the work of Embrapa Forestry with partners from the public and private sectors during the last 35 years. Before being officially launched, Erva 20 already attracts attention from rural producers, such as the Associação Biturunense da Erva-mate (ABEM). The entity is already in contact with Embrapa Forestry to implement the production system with its members. "What aroused our interest in Erva 20 was the possibility of increasing productivity without environmental impact and also the promise of herbal quality. This was what raised our interest", says Naldo Vaz, president of ABEM. "Yerba mate is highly profitable, as long as there is good property and crop management, and that is one aspect we all appreciate," he says. With the growing demand for technologies, the path will be to train multipliers and provide tools to support rural producers. "We will soon be making applications available to help producers manage yerba mate plantings," says Goulart. Yerba mate importance Data from IBGE in 2016 of the Brazilian Municipal Agricultural Production (PAM) show that yerba mate is the main non-timber product of forest production in the South of the country. It is cultivated by thousands of small producers, with a large majority (80%) in properties of up to 20 hectares. It means that it is a mainly family farming cultivation. Yerba mate has already been responsible for the economic cycle called "Green Gold". However, in the last decades, it has undergone a period of stagnation, with consequent drop in investments and discouragement to the development of technological innovations. "Now the market for new products, mainly international, is discovering the benefits of yerba mate and this will certainly impact economic performance and also the creation of new products," analyzes Joel Penteado Júnior. "But today we have a paradox between the industry's potential for expansion and how the raw material is produced and benefited," he adds. The reason is that the technical level of planting and processing varies between a minority of producers and industries with a high technical level and many others in rudimentary conditions. "It is a great challenge for the sector, which needs to respond effectively to this promising scenario of new players emerging in the market, in order to adapt and catch up the delay of decades in the adoption of technologies," he guides. "Erva 20 appears in this context, to help the producer to become more efficient and more competitive in this market," concludes Penteado. Translation: Ana Maranhão